NBA free agency preview: Questions, teams to watch

All the anticipation. All the rumors. All the speculation. It all comes to a head beginning at 9 p.m. Arizona time on Monday, when the NBA free agent market officially opens.

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Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Safe bet?

LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are all available, having opted out of their contracts with the Miami Heat. But the safe bet is all three did so with the idea of staying in Miami and making some financial sacrifices together to allow Pat Riley to go out and bolster a team that was steamrolled in its fourth straight NBA Finals appearance by the San Antonio Spurs.

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Leave the Big Apple?

Carmelo Anthony is on the market, too. But will he really pass up all the money and all the glamour that the Knicks and the Big Apple have to offer to go elsewhere?

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Out of Dallas?

Dirk Nowitzki is a free agent as well. The chances of him leaving the Dallas Mavericks are about as likely as the Cowboys taking that big blue star off their helmets.

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Match any offer?

The Suns have promised to match any offer for restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe and the Utah Jazz figure to do the same with Gordon Hayward. The air of inevitability is doing little to dull the fervor.

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Eyes on Miami

Players can begin meeting with teams on Tuesday, but they cannot sign contracts until July 10, a moratorium that is established while the league works to set the salary cap for next season. All eyes are on Miami to start. Riley specializes in closing deals, and he may not stop with his three All-Stars. But here are five other teams to watch in the early going.

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Team to watch

HOUSTON ROCKETS: GM Daryl Morey is one of the most aggressive in the game. Two years ago, he traded for James Harden. Last year he won the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. And he's not done. Morey wants a third star in Houston to help the Rockets challenge the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers atop the Western Conference. Never one to settle, Morey has James and Anthony at the top of his list.

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Team to watch

CHICAGO BULLS: Tom Thibodeau's proud team has overachieved the last two seasons while superstar Derrick Rose has been sidelined by knee injuries. They've done it with a defensive intensity that has been unmatched, but even with Rose expected to be ready to go for training camp and Doug McDermott added on draft night, the Bulls still need some help to put the ball in the basket. Nobody does that better than Melo.

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Team to watch

ATLANTA HAWKS: They have quietly made the playoffs for seven straight seasons, an achievement that comes with an asterisk since they play in the woeful Eastern Conference. But the Hawks made a trade Sunday night with Toronto that helps them free up some $15 million in cap space, which is enough to land a big-time free agent for promising second-year coach Mike Budenholzer.

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Team to watch

DALLAS MAVERICKS: Nowitzki figures to take a large paycut to help his team free up some cash to bolster a lineup that gave the Spurs a harder time in the playoffs than any other team. They traded for Tyson Chandler to grab the attention of stars looking for a winner and owner Mark Cuban told a Dallas radio station last week that "we're going to swing for the fences."

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Team to watch

PHOENIX SUNS: In his first season on the job, GM Ryan McDonough helped engineer a remarkable season for a young Suns team that won 48 games. McDonough can offer free agents the chance to play for an innovative coach in Jeff Hornacek and with a dynamic backcourt in Goran Dragic and Bledsoe, presuming he returns. The Suns also have the best medical staff in the league and are armed with draft picks and young players going forward to make the future in Phoenix as bright as the logo on their court.

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) is pressured by Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) during the second half at American Airlines Arena on April 6, 2014. Miami won 102-91.(Photo: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)

Players can begin meeting with teams on Tuesday, but they cannot sign contracts until July 10, a moratorium that is established while the league works to set the salary cap for next season.

All eyes are on Miami to start. Riley specializes in closing deals, and he may not stop with his three All-Stars. But here are five other teams to watch in the early going.

Paul Coro joins Paola Boivin and Bruce Cooper to discuss the reports that the Phoenix Suns are pursuing LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in free agency.

HOUSTON ROCKETS: GM Daryl Morey is one of the most aggressive in the game. Two years ago, he traded for James Harden. Last year he won the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. And he's not done. Morey wants a third star in Houston to help the Rockets challenge the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers atop the Western Conference. Never one to settle, Morey has James and Anthony at the top of his list.

CHICAGO BULLS: Tom Thibodeau's proud team has overachieved the last two seasons while superstar Derrick Rose has been sidelined by knee injuries. They've done it with a defensive intensity that has been unmatched, but even with Rose expected to be ready to go for training camp and Doug McDermott added on draft night, the Bulls still need some help to put the ball in the basket. Nobody does that better than Melo.

ATLANTA HAWKS: They have quietly made the playoffs for seven straight seasons, an achievement that comes with an asterisk since they play in the woeful Eastern Conference. But the Hawks made a trade Sunday night with Toronto that helps them free up some $15 million in cap space, which is enough to land a big-time free agent for promising second-year coach Mike Budenholzer.

DALLAS MAVERICKS: Nowitzki figures to take a large paycut to help his team free up some cash to bolster a lineup that gave the Spurs a harder time in the playoffs than any other team. They traded for Tyson Chandler to grab the attention of stars looking for a winner and owner Mark Cuban told a Dallas radio station last week that "we're going to swing for the fences."

Paul Coro and Bob Young discuss LeBron James opting out of his contract and the chances of James landing with Phoenix Suns.
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PHOENIX SUNS: In his first season on the job, GM Ryan McDonough helped engineer a remarkable season for a young Suns team that won 48 games. McDonough can offer free agents the chance to play for an innovative coach in Jeff Hornacek and with a dynamic backcourt in Goran Dragic and Bledsoe, presuming he returns. The Suns also have the best medical staff in the league and are armed with draft picks and young players going forward to make the future in Phoenix as bright as the logo on their court.

LeBron James informed the Miami Heat that he is opting out of his contract that would pay him $20.6 million next season, meaning he will become a free agent on July 1. So now that he will have his choice of teams, where will James end up? Here are his best options:

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Miami Heat

They are the top option for a variety of reasons. The Heat can offer James the longest and most lucrative contract. If Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade return, that's still a pretty good core. He has won two championships with the Heat and more are possible if the Heat make the right roster improvements. It's Miami. He and his family like it there. The Heat should be front-runners.

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Chicago Bulls

If the Bulls are interested in Carmelo Anthony, why not James? Chicago met with James in 2010, and a core of James, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah would be outstanding. But the Bulls would have to amnesty forward Carlos Boozer, trade Mike Dunleavy, trade one of their two first-round draft picks, eliminate some non-guaranteed contracts to free up the cap space to offer James an enticing contract.

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Houston Rockets

General manager Daryl Morey is a dreamer and a dealer, and it will take a good dose of both for the Rockets to sign James. It starts with convincing James that he, Dwight Howard and James Harden can play together - offensive and defensively - then Morey needs to create salary cap space, and that means trading Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin.

Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs are always going to get mentioned because of the possibility James returns to his hometown team and erases the bad feelings from his 2010 departure. But winning titles sooner rather than later still remains at the top of James' priority list, and the Cavs are not championship-ready now. A first-year coach (David Blatt) with no previous NBA experience and a first-year GM (David Griffin) aren't strong selling points.

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Los Angeles Lakers

The big question here: Is Kobe Bryant be willing to cede control to James? Can you see Bryant doing so? But there's no question the Lakers believe it can work and will do everything they can to convince James they are the team for him - with Bryant and without Bryant down the road. The Lakers have the money to sign James, and will have money for another top-notch player either this offseason (if Steve Nash retires) or maybe even next offseason. But, like the Heat, can the Lakers add enough quality players around James to compete for a championship?

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Los Angeles Clippers

James, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin would automatically make the Clippers favorites to win the Western Conference. But like Houston, the Clippers would need to make a series of moves, including a sign-and-trade, to get James from one coast to the other. Doc Rivers would love to coach James, and James has strong respect for Rivers' Celtics teams. But there remains that pesky little Donald Sterling issue. There's no guarantee that situation is resolved by the time James needs to make his choice, and his direct comments about Sterling not belonging in the NBA would make it difficult for James to go to the Clippers as long as Sterling still owned the team - even if he has no control of the team.

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Phoenix Suns

It's a long shot, but point guard Eric Bledsoe and James share the same agent (James' longtime friend Rich Paul), and the Suns are a promising team. They won 48 games last season in the ultra-competitive West when many expected them to tank. They have a solid coach (Jeff Hornacek) and a talented and young roster (Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, Markief and Marcus Morris, Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee). With the right additions, the Suns could be appealing to James, at least enough for him to hear their pitch.